


Life is a Journey (Not a Race)

by krissyxlove



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Phantober 2019, Running, marathon dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 15:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20876813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krissyxlove/pseuds/krissyxlove
Summary: The day before the London marathon Dan has doubts and Phil has words of wisdom.





	Life is a Journey (Not a Race)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! this is for Phantober 2019 day 3 which is marathon Dan!

The crisp morning air burned Dan's lungs as he took in a greedy gasp of it. He had been running at a good pace for roughly an hour now but that wasn't nearly enough, he had to keep going. He had been pushing himself more than ever this past week and his body was now taking that toll. His legs throbbed, his feet were sore, and his ankles felt like lead balloons from all the pressure building up.

He meant to ask his brother for tips long before he got to this point, but it was way too late now because the day he had been training for was tomorrow. The only problem was tomorrow was too soon. On good days Dan was running roughly 16km within 2 hours but now he was slowing down to about 5km an hour and with a time like that the marathon would take him far too long. It was laughable how Dan actually thought he could pull this off with only a few months of training. Actually in the beginning it did seem plausible, but after only a few weeks he started taking more and more days off from training and soon he was almost back at his starting point. 

Dan felt like a failure, but he knew he wasn’t ready. Besides it was easier to pull out now than to be humiliated publicly by leaving the race halfway through. His saving grace was the fact he hadn’t told his audience so he didn’t even have to worry about that. However, he still had a lot of people to tell and possibly disappoint. 

“I’m back,” Dan said flatly as he pushed himself into his flat. 

“I thought you were doing a mock trial of the race? Shouldn’t you be out a few more hours?” Phil asked, clearly confused. 

“What? Do you not have time to hide your secret lover now?” Dan actually found a way to grin at this. Things were always so natural with Phil and he was thankful for him especially in this moment.

“Oh yeah, Frederick is hiding in your furry sex dungeon so be careful nextime you enter there,” Phil retorted. 

“Really? You would cheat on me with someone named Frederick?” Dan said with mock offense, grasping at his heart for dramatic effect. 

“Don’t judge Frederick he is a Doctor! Bringing in all that moola!” 

The pair laughed for a moment before Dan stopped to look at Phil was a serious expression. Phil knew what that meant. 

“Want to tell me what happened?” Phil asked carefully. 

“I don’t think I can do it, the marathon, that is.” 

“You know that is okay right? No one is forcing you to do anything only you are setting and holding yourself to these goals Dan,” Phil said. 

“I know, but I told everyone. I told our families, our friends, I even told the delivery guy the other day!” 

Dan really did tell the delivery guy because he was still on top of the world from his runner’s high and he just needed to tell _someone_. 

“I don’t think the domino’s guy will blame you if you pull out the race,” Phil pointed out, and he was right. However, Dan was stubborn and needed to complain more. 

“Even if he doesn’t, what will my Mum say? What will Adrian say? He is a runner and we finally had something to bond over, but now this? What about Bryony? What about PJ and Sophie? I will literally have to tell all of them! They all supported me even though they were hesitant at first! They didn’t believe me until I showed them I was putting the work in, and in the end they were right anyway. And you…”

“What about me?” Phil asked. 

“I don’t know. I feel like you’ve just given me so much support and here I am failing you…” Dan all but mumbled. He was ashamed to feel that way because he knew it wasn’t true, but his head was angry with him right now. 

“Dan, come here,” Phil said opening his arms. 

Dan welcomed the embrace and gave a heavy sigh of relief as the comforting arms that felt like home enveloped him. A light kiss was pressed to the top of Dan’s head and Dan’s heart flipped over like they were still young and in love for the first time. 

“You always are so hard on yourself. Life is a journey, not a race, so there is no need to rush things. Remember how last year you wanted to tell everyone you were gay during pride month and you backed out the day before June ended? In a way, it’s like that but look at you now. You are working so hard to make sure you get your message out this June. And you know what? Even if you don’t upload it again this year, there is always next year. The same thing goes for the marathon. It will always be there so there is no need to rush,” Phil said as he tightened his embrace. 

Dan’s heart swelled for the man he loved. He was everything to him and also the only person who’s opinion mattered. Yeah, some friends and family may be disappointed and they may say things like ‘I told you so’, but Phil was right. 

Dan felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he was smiling as he buried his face deeper into Phil’s shoulder as he let out a laugh that was also choked by tears. He stayed like that for a while and Phil held him the entire time until he felt okay enough to pull back. 

“You know, my Mum made a shirt and I am going to have to tell her it was all in vain,” Dan said. 

“Not exactly. You can just tell her to keep it for next year,” Phil reminded him. 

Dan couldn’t help but laugh having a feeling they would be in this same exact position next year. 

“Yeah, or maybe the year after that.”


End file.
